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Rubystar would it help if I posted pics of mine in pieces so you can see it? I am a visual type person as well need to see before I can do.

Well done!!!!!!!!!! Just remember PATIENCE and baby steps rewarding every single one of them..

Not common at all thank goodness though any breed is capable of aggression in the right or is it that wrong circumstances. Both my girls love everybody with four or two legs.

Well done. Told you it was a doddle..

Make them yourself it is way cheaper. And I am handyman challenged as well The bar jumps are easy just go to Bunnings and buy 4metres of PVC pipe with 4 T joiners per jump to fit cut three pieces of pipe around a metre long each. Two of these are side poles which I cut at 400mm and put a T joiner in to take the cross bar. It also allows you to change the height (I train/teach at that height but both my girls compete at close to 600mm). Put a T piece on the bottom and cut two 250mm pieces of pipe and place in there for feet. Wrap electricians tape - the black stuff - around the pipe at intervals and tada you have youself a bar jump. Make two and drop a white sheet over the bar of one and you have a solid jump if you dont want to make a wooden version, though that is relatively easy as well with stuff bought from Bunnings. I collapse mine all down and along with a fold up version of a small send away box it all fits in an old collapsible chair bag in the boot of the car for taking up the park. The wooden jump is a bit trickier but doable. You need - - a length of stair rail capping for side bars and enough pieces of 200mm pine to give the height you need. You can buy ready cut pieces at Bunnings. - a length of threaded rod (I think it is called a booker rod) that they will also cut for you and two wing nuts to fit. - two L shape metal shelf supports for feet for each side. Paint the whole thing white, sand the ends of the pine boards so they are an easier fit in the cut out of the side bits. Drill a hole one board width up from the bottom to take the rod. Screw the L shapes to the side bars and presto you have a jump. Built one about 5 months ago and cost me about $70.00 Not much help with the broad jump as we do change of position. Hope that all makes sense.

I was having this problem with one of my girls. Wouldnt bring back anything that didnt have feathers attached (shes a gundog). Took me twelve months to teach her to retrieve a dumbell and I tried all the "tricks" people told me about. What worked eventually for us was BBQ chicken. I went through a whole flock of chickens but you could use anything that is of high value for her and only use it when training the dumbell. I trained her every day in my kitchen in very, very short sessions starting with rewarding for the slightest interest in the dumbell, then for touching it with her nose, then her teeth then in her mouth and so on. Took a while but we got to the point of a two metre retrieve in the kitchen as a constant before I moved her outside went back a couple of steps to reinforce then went from there. Luckily my girl is food obsessed and this worked for me. She still wont retrieve sticks or toys but the dumbell is now a learned exercise and is pretty fail safe much like a recall. Patience and reinforcement/reward for the tiniest improvement and you'll get there. Others more experienced here may have a better solution for you but that worked for us. Some other suggestions - Plastic instead of wood. - Bigger (fatter) bar and larger ends to make it higher of the ground and easier to pick up. - Sew lambswool around the bar part in case of sensitive teeth and remove once learnt it wont hurt. - Buy one of those toys that are a dumbell shape and have the giggle thing in them once she has it figured with that substitute the real dumbell.

Huge congratulations on jobs well done over there in the west. Everyone deserves an extra bit of dinner I think.

Just a quick update on the jumping. You were right Ptolomy have been increasing the distance and am out to maybe 4 metres either side but have only got about half a metre between them. Still have a greatly exagerated signal but that was to be expected. She is getting it right 9 out of 10 times now so she is getting there. I do not have the jumps at full height yet either. Slow but steady I think. Ness commiserations on the one article

Tried the two bar jumps yesterday. With a little success. Had to resort to major baby steps though. The jumps close togethor (just wide enough for her to get between) set her up 2 metres back I stand a metre or so the other side close enough to stop her if she runs between. And signal with exageration in place which one to do. Reward with the hand that gave the signal. She seemed to have more trouble with the left than the right but after a few attempts she seemed to pick it up. Tried again this morning with only one attempt to go between out of 4 or 5 goes. Will work at this level for a while before increasing all distances involved or pairing with the box. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions I now have an idea of how to go forward with this. Will let you all know how we go possibly with video if I can convince someone to tape me.

Will get a couple of bar jumps out of the store room tomorrow and give it a try.. Its good having a keen dog isnt it????

Thanks Ptolomy Shall try this method tomorrow and see how we go.. As for making it a game - I am blessed or cursed not sure which at this point but the little darling thinks all training is a game invented just for her. Silly little thing does back flips when the training collar comes out of the bag and doesnt care how many times a day/week you do it.

This is the method I've been trying and as soon as I get past the side of the jump she runs around straight to me. Maybe I am just asking too much too soon and need to back it up a bit and make haste slowly as the saying goes. Really get her set on the arm movement first.

Thanks Diablo for your reply. The jumping I'm after is a UD exercise where you send the dog out to a box at the end of the ring they turn and sit and then wait until you send them either left or right over a jump on their way back to you at the start position. She will do this if directly in front of the jump but not when a couple of metres of to the side. She just runs straitght back to me without the jump. It is early days for me with this exercise so am just not sure how to teach it. What I do know is that she is not getting the idea cause her silly handler doesnt know how to explain it to her

Okay guys am hoping for some tips on this pretty please as have only a very vague idea on how to go about it. We have mastered the box component with her now consistent, reliable and very eager to get to the box. But how do you then get her to come back over a jump. She will come back over if I sit her the other side on a wait and then walk around and tell her to "over" but as soon as I get a deviation from a straight line she doesnt go over just straight back to me. I realize I havent got it in the right language for her yet but not sure what to do. HELP!!!!!!!!!

The first is always the hardest. Well done for getting out there and dont let nasties get you down.. The majority of people who trial are nice, helpful and realize that we all had a first trial once.

Good luck. And remember the best ever tip given to me many, many moons ago by a judge.. Left is towards the dog

We are just learning this stuff as well and used an adapted version of the scout method to teach it. The ignoring when picking up the wrong thing seemed to work for us though she actually brought it back to me as well. Now a bit further in to the training we have managed four days in a row with no mistakes (even today in quite a strong breeze) and I can actually hear her snort and snuffle as she works the articles. Sounds a bit like a pig in the trough :D We really went in huge leaps when I trained inside and scattered lounge cushions on the floor starting with one article first in plain view and then hid it under a cushion to try and make her use her nose. Increased the number of articles and ignored her if she brought the visible/wrong one huge reward when she found the scented article under cushions. Gradually removed cushions and had all articles then in plain view. Havent looked back since. Its probably basic stuff for the more advanced people out there but it worked for this pair of novices. :D

Crossing everything I've got and if the gods of dogs are smiling yes please!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the tip with the leather dont think it is a problem yet but I need all the help I can get. Nope not me at the Ekka. Was at the state trials though, was the only GSP there. Had a not so succesful weekend there as we were still working out exactly what was needed in the Open ring. :D My mission was to control her youthful enthusiasm long enough to actually qualie which we managed a couple of weeks ago. Saw your boy work there and was in awe, walked away saying to myself "one day"....

So do you think I should use the same leather article for a couple of weeks in a row and air the rest of the set for 4 or 5 days as per normal? I am rotating two and a half sets at the moment. We started with the Sue H method of lots of different things from around the house to bring back, then started substituting articles, metal first followed by wood then the leather. Having said all that maybe I am asking/expecting too much too soon as we only started on this less than 4 weeks ago. She just seemed to picking it up so quick. in case you hadn't guessed I have never trained for this level before but my girl seems to be having the time of her life.

Dont want to hijack your thread Seita but am so glad you asked this question as have recently started on the UD stuff with my girl and picked the scent discrim to begin with. Going really well on the metal and wood but needs two goes to get the leather right probably half the time picking up the wrong one first. She is working really hard to find the right one not just doing a dash and grab so I was wondering if I was not airing the sets for long enough as they still smell quite strongly leathery if you know what I mean so she is having trouble finding my smell maybe?. We have always used a leather leash but she is never on it in training and is having no issue with the seek back article. Any help greatly apreciated.

Thanks for that, I think I agree with you if it is not for competition you would think you could reward as the handler sees fit...

Hi guys, not posted in here before but just a quick question Is a mock trial the same thing as we have in Qld when we do sweepstakes? Trainee judges and need to get 150 in CD before you can actually trial in Novice or is it more like a formalised ring run out? The BC worked nicely for a youngster congrats..

Havent posted in this one before.. Best trial moment was my young GSP Coco going Best in Trial at this years National in Melbourne after travelling all the way from Brisbane and not being the worlds best car dog. Terrible trialling conditions and a handler (me) suffering from the worst case of nerves she worked like it was a practice run at home in the backyard. Only a novice that gave her her second leg in CD and showed me there is hope for us yet.